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| what to do with an old riding mower; huskee go cart | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 18 2012, 12:26 AM (3,260 Views) | |
| 3cyltom | Nov 18 2012, 12:26 AM Post #1 |
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i have a huskee riding mower made by mtd, i thought it was an 84 model, but i found a tag on the rear end that said 94. but anyways, it was a 40 inch cut 12 hp briggs with a 5 spd manual. i bought it origonally for $50 and mowed 3 seasons with it. the deck was increasingly junk and finally gave up the ghost this last time. so i thought to myself, what do you do with an old riding mower. i googled it and found out that people race yard tractors. so i did a little homework and found out if you change the pulley on the rear end it goes faster. i got my 10 speed bike out and did a little test. and sure enough if the pulley on the rear is big, it goes slow. if its changed to the small pulley it goes faster. hmmm i found the pulley on my mowers rear end is a 9 inch, and i changed it to a 3.5 inch pulley and fit a new belt on it. i plan to change the front pulley to a bigger one later, i just wanted to see if it worked. and weee like the pig in the tv commercial, i ran willy nilly all over mamas back yard in my new faster lawn mower. and grand total of 30$ invested so far. i thought i might look into racing it this summer. i dont know whats all involved, but it seems like fun. |
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| HelterSkelter | Nov 18 2012, 12:34 AM Post #2 |
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#1 Pizza Driver
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larger tires in the rear should make it go faster too. |
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| Coche Blanco | Nov 18 2012, 12:37 AM Post #3 |
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Troll Certified
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Swapping pulleys, and running thinner (or thicker?) gear oil on the transmission is a good move. |
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| patrickbruce | Nov 18 2012, 12:38 AM Post #4 |
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average teenage gearhead
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pics |
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| HelterSkelter | Nov 18 2012, 01:01 AM Post #5 |
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#1 Pizza Driver
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the transmission is running at the same speed as before and isn't going to experiencing any shock loads so why bother changing the transmission fluid? it's a lawnmower lol |
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| Coche Blanco | Nov 18 2012, 01:11 AM Post #6 |
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Troll Certified
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No it's not. |
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| HelterSkelter | Nov 18 2012, 01:19 AM Post #7 |
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#1 Pizza Driver
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if i'm understanding how his mower works, it's output shaft has a pulley on it that drives the mower, right? he changed the pulleys, but that wouldn't affect the speed the transmission is working at, the speed the transmission is working at affects the pulleys. either way he's not putting down enough power to really need a thicker oil. |
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| 2000Firefly1.3L | Nov 18 2012, 01:28 AM Post #8 |
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turbo required |
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| Spud | Nov 18 2012, 02:33 AM Post #9 |
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Be sure to put some riser headers on it coming out the hood or side like hotrod hehehehe |
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| Eric J | Nov 18 2012, 07:11 AM Post #10 |
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Formerly CEJ93
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A little larger than a lawn tractor but before you know it we'll be seeing stuff like this around here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqBy92fTXsg Edited by Eric J, Nov 18 2012, 07:13 AM.
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| Coche Blanco | Nov 18 2012, 10:04 AM Post #11 |
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Troll Certified
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If I am not mistaken, the front pulley is on the engine and the rear pulley is on the transmission. Putting a smaller one on the transmission makes it spin a lot lot faster, and it slings the oil off of the gears and can make it foam up. I hotrodded a few lawn mowers before I could drive...I live in Alabama...what can I say? And we always changed the gear oil out...but I can't remember if it was for thicker or thinner oil. It's not the power output that's the problem, it's the RPMs. |
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| metro_neel | Nov 18 2012, 12:09 PM Post #12 |
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Member
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well yea the trans is going to experience much higher loads because it is turning much much faster if you swap pulleys to make it faster......wow i cant even believe this is a discussion..... Coche is right on....on a side note, the deck is not right on my mtd yard machines, hydrostatic drive.....I am thinking of putting a little more aggresive tire on the back, changing the pulleys slightly but still give it some pulling power, ditching the deck and may use to launch my 12' sail boat (gravel boat ramp is 800' from the garage of new house) |
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| Rustman | Nov 19 2012, 04:53 PM Post #13 |
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We do that a lot up here in WI. What people really like doing is finding OLD tractors because they have a horizontal shaft instead of a vertical shaft, and you can mount a larger (new) engine when you have a horizontal shaft. Even if you have a vertical shaft, though, there are a couple things you REALLY need to consider: 1. First (yes, I know I'm being redundant) you need to realize that many of the newer mowers have plastic gears in the transmission. If you put them under too much stress, they'll fail... sometimes catastrophically. If you're in the middle of a race and your transmission tears itself apart, I would consider that catastrophic. 2. Secondly the RPMs of the transmission DO change when you change the pulley size. The 10 speed bike is a good example. If you have two gears of the same size, you have a 1:1 gear ratio. So for every turn of the engine you will get one turn of the transmission. (Note: I did NOT say one turn of the wheels for one turn of the engine. Your transmission has ratios of its own that decrease the speed output of the wheels. The reason for that has to do with the physical limitations of any/all internal combustion engine(s). I won't get into the finer details, but I will note that IC engines are weak in low RPMs.) When you change the pulley on the engine OR the transmission, you change the speed of the output at the wheels. If you INCREASE the size of the DRIVER pulley (the one on the engine) you will INCREASE the output speed of the wheels. (However, this will affect your torque requirements, and the amount of wear and tear on everything in the system.) Also, if you DECREASE the size of the RECEIVER pulley (the one on the transmission) you will INCREASE the output speed of the wheels. Note: both scenarios create an increase in the output speed of the wheels by INCREASING the RPMs of the transmission, assuming we're not changing the RPMs of the engine in either scenario. Mathematically, when you increase RPM you increase stress. So, since we're putting more stress on the transmission, it seems logical that a different lubricant (different than the factory original lubricant that the mower came with) should be used to compensate for the stress. |
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| 3cyltom | Nov 19 2012, 07:36 PM Post #14 |
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sorry for the late reply, i was truckin. i did some research on the trans axle, and i found it to be a dana/spicer 5 speed made early 94. it should take shell darina 0 grease. 12-15oz's i plan to split the axle and regrease the gears before i tear the axle up. and i need to get a slightly larger belt. the combined clutch/brake pedal doesnt take the power away from the trans, and the engine fights the brake. no breaks is fun around corners. and yes the smaller pulley on the trans input shaft speeds up the internals of the axle. i was thinking that when i was doing the swap. overall, the mower isnt lightning quick, but i would compare it to a go cart you ride at a festival. except with a higher center of gravity. thank goodness for the governor spring on the carb, it cuts the engine power around a sharp corner, or i might have rolled it a few times. i might take a few pic's, but its ugly as hell. the hoods trashed and i took it off, it looks like poop now. |
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| Coche Blanco | Nov 19 2012, 07:50 PM Post #15 |
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Troll Certified
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It's possible that your differential is what is causing you to slow down around corners. |
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